Fitness

Here are the tricep exercises I've experimented with this week:

• Close-Grip Incline Bench (done)
• Close-Grip Flat Bench
• Dips
• Overhead Rope Extension
• Single-Arm Overhead Cable Extension
• Reverse-Grip Pushdown
• Straight-Bar Pushdown
• Rope Pushdown

Before this month, I always struggled with elbow pain whenever attempting tricep exercises. But 2 weeks ago, I discovered "elbow circles" warmup exercise which has thankfully fixed that. But now, every tricep exercise feels extremely awkward in one of two ways:

1. It feels impossible to find a tricep exercise with a weight heavy enough to figure out my "6-rep max" (i.e. a weight which I can barely do 6 reps but not 7 even if my life depended on it). The limiting factor is always discomfort rather than the limiting factor being tricep strength (while keeping great form). This is less of a problem if I opt for more reps at lower weight, but I strongly wish to continue the "grease the groove protocol" method which has worked wonders for me the past 3 months and allowed me to move up in strength relatively quickly.
2. Even when the exercise feels "okay-ish", I rarely get that feeling of my triceps clearly doing the work. It often feels like my shoulders, elbows, joints, or just general awkwardness are the main thing I'm noticing instead. Despite tons of effort & exertion, I tend to notice that exertion everywhere else but not the triceps.

For someone in my situation, are there 2 or 3 beginner-friendly tricep exercises that feel natural, stable, and easy to progressively overload? I strongly believe that if I choose 1 or 2 tricep exercises to focus on daily (at low weight, low volume, just mastering the movement), that eventually it will feel comfortable and I can eventually grind my way up to higher weights once I practice letting my triceps familiarize with the movement pattern. I just want to skip the guesswork and only pursue the 1-2 most promising candidates.

Lastly, if you were teaching someone how to learn to feel their triceps working on a particular triceps exercise, what cues or form tips would be most helpful or educational?